


When Can I See You Again?

by MysticalMondfee



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Cliche with flourish, Fluff, I'm going to rot your teeth with it, M/M, This Is STUPID, Thought you should know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-15
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2017-12-05 10:06:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/721833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticalMondfee/pseuds/MysticalMondfee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which John meets a mysterious stranger who needs just a tiny bit of help because of a little bad weather and little bad luck. Who is this stranger? Will they become friends? Find out now by reading the relationship tag posted above and you may find that it’s not that hard to deduce the answers to those questions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. John: Be freezing and find someone else who is also freezing

You are John Egbert and you pull the hood of your parka further around your head in attempt to shield yourself against the icy wind and the snow that is attacking you. The snow is already trying to hold you back, grasping your legs up to your knees making it hard to trudge through it. The wind surrounds you as if it’s trying to up root you and take you flying with it. And no matter how appealing this may sound you know physics don’t quite work like that. This freak storm has absolutely covered everything in a thick quilt of white in less than twenty four hours. The news station predicted a light flurry and everyone was surprised when the flurry started raging. Right before you lost power the station said that they were unable to predict how long it will last but the blizzard-like conditions were definitely not going to lighten up anytime soon, mainly the next three or four days. They advised everyone to stay inside because it was far too dangerous to drive or walk in this weather. This was impossible for you though.

You had the misfortune of being in the middle of an important biology experiment for your club. You are the president of the biology club at your collage and had the responsibility of making sure this project was completed without any mistakes so it would be as creditable as possible. This was a big experiment and it had you dancing in your shoes. However the school deemed the weather to be an emergency and unsuitable for students to be in, so all classes would be canceled until further notice. Which you’re not going to get until your power comes back on because you used the last bit of phone battery on calling the club members involved with the experiment that since you are the one who lives the closest to the campus you will take care of the samples so they won’t die. So you had to make your way to the biology lab today in this frozen hell.

And that brings you to where you are now, fighting your way through three feet of snow going on seven feet with a bag a petri dishes wrapped together snugly . Only to get back to your house that only has a fire place as a source of heat. You are so happy that your water magically still functions.

In favor of getting back to your house as soon as humanly possible, you decide to cut through the park that your dad always brought you to when you were a little kid to play with the other kids. You grin at the thought. You were lucky to have such a great college so close to where you grew up. You love this area and you didn't really want to leave home quite yet because your father has been having some problems with his heart so you opted to save the room and board money for college and continue living with your dad, who didn't mind at all. Actually you think that he preferred to have you stay home with him. Speaking of your dad, he is on a vacation to the tropics this week with his lady friend who you were really hoping would be a little more than that by now and really hoping that this vacation will help push their relationship. He really lucked out about missing this storm by being with such a charming woman. You told him many times that you would support any of his romantic interests but he said he was too old for that. He stopped using that argument when you pointed out that he supported your childish crushes when you were too young. He really didn't have any other excuses besides that one because she also had a child and you were already friends with her. That is actually how they met; it was because Rose was complaining about her mother’s cooking that you invited them to your house for Thanksgiving.

You are suddenly torn back into current reality when your foot catches on something under the snow resulting in your greeting the icy substance with your face. You lay there for a moment, stunned from the unexpected turn of events. After pulling yourself off the snow, you stand up and brush yourself free from the powdery white death.

What was that? You think as you look to the spot where you tripped and then around you. From what you remember there isn't any play gym contraptions in this spot of the park. You then observe an obtrusive piece of neon orange obstructing the obdurate ocean of white. 

Huh.

Curiosity consumes your thought and body as you move over to start uncovering the orange only taking a moment to consider how cold unearthing the object will be.

Curiosity turns into surprise when the orange becomes a jacket, a jacket that someone is currently wearing. Your surprise turns to worry instantly and you do your best not to freak out.

“Oh, shoot! Man, are you okay? Can you hear me?”

You get no response, which only fuels your worry. You desperately uncover the rest of him and take off your gloves so you can get all the snow off his face. He has short blond hair that is almost white and he is wearing weird pointed sunglasses. This confuses you, not only because they look silly, but also the gray clouds have plagued the sky all of today and most of yesterday, so why was he wearing them? You take his shades off and see that here aren't any bags under his eyes. You then lift his eyelid up to look at his pupil only to find yourself staring at the most dazzling red eye you have ever seen. Well, that wasn't saying much because the only red eyes you ever saw was on albino lab animals. You put the stupid shades in your pocket.

So at least he isn't a drunk or a stoner.

You pat his cheek in attempt to wake him up. “Hey are you okay?” Your hands are freezing because you've been out for a while but they feel warm compared to his cheeks. This isn't good. This isn't good at all. “Oh fuck, are you alive?” Please don’t let this be a murder. Oh my fucking god you really don't want it to be a murder. You take his pulse and are relieved to feel a light beat. Oh thank the heavens. “Come on, please wake up!” He doesn't, of course, so you reach for your phone only for two predicaments to dawn on you. First, your phone died a noble death by protecting your colleagues from having to subject themselves to this frozen wasteland that you are currently enduring. Second is that, in this wasteland, no ambulance would be able to get him to the hospital much arrive at the park. So you figure your house is close enough to carry this frozen humansicle to.

You lift the stranger to the up-right position and give one last attempt to wake him up, “Are you going to wake up or do I really have to carry you to my house?” You pat his cheek a little harder, which sort of hurts your numb hand.

“Mmmmmm.”

A response! Great! But it still seems like he's not really awake so you sling him on your back with a slight grunt as you support the new weight, even if it really isn't much at all. You’re surprised that he’s this light and with the help of high school and some college wrestling you stand up to resume your battle with the snow. Only now you have another purpose.

Welp. Here goes nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So who do you think this poor person John quite literally picked up could possibly be? Find out next chapter if you don’t already know! And to those who have to do just that please read past the first few panels of Homestuck because you shouldn't really be reading fanfics yet if that’s the cause. And Homestuck is beautiful.  
> Also forgive me for silly mistakes and awkward phrases and stuff because I don’t really have an editor so I’m making my own revisions.
> 
> Also, I made a mistake in this chapter. Whoops. I gave the mysterious someone aviator sunglasses already. I am so used to him wearing them that I forgot that he started out with his bro's pointed anime shades. Sorry. I fixed it. And other small grammatical mistakes. I swear that during the process of uploading chapters letters, words, and even paragraphs are dropped and forgotten. I'm rereading my fic on here because I realized that that happens and I'm fixing stupid mistakes like those. So please forgive me and bear with me.


	2. Dave: What are you going to do?

You are Dave Strider and you just had the worst fight with your brother that you have ever had. You don’t even remember what sparked it but you sure as hell remember how it escalated. Striders are the essence of cool and calm. Any dictionary without “Striders” as one of those definitions would bring great shame to himself, or herself let’s not be sexist against books here, and his or her family. With that said you know something’s seriously wrong when the two chillest dudes on the planet flip their shit and each other’s shit and every other piece of shit they could find. Unfortunately that shit included your turn tables and your bros new computer along with a few other precious electronics and possessions. And when Bro's and your fight made its way to your room it, which resulted in a fourth of your collection of dead things shattered on your floor, you did what every health class has taught you to do during these desperate times. You removed yourself from the situation and absconded the hell outta there. 

That brings you to where you are now. A small playground that looks so awesome that you would ironically play on it if you weren’t so damn pissed and drained from all the fighting. You suppose it’s really going to flurry but you figure that it’ll help cool you down some because you’re still fuming. It’s a little early to go to bed but as you said before Bro has wiped the energy right out of you. Right now you really wish you grabbed a blanket or a sleeping bag during your rage out the door, but you guess that this isn’t as bad as sleeping on your shitty ass couch. You and Bro learned the hard way that thrift store couches were never to be trusted.

Welp. Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite. 

///

You wake up once when it started snowing but man did you ache all over and you were still so fucking tired that it didn’t matter that no normal person would continue sleeping out here. Besides, since when were you ever normal? You just roll over onto your back and pass the fuck out.

///

You are having another one of your nightmares. Only this time it isn’t about you dying a terrible death. Oh no, in this one you already died and went to hell, but hell couldn’t take how cool you are and froze over. Heh. All the fire demons turned into snow demons and they started to hunt you. They threw snowballs at you that felt like acid (which really is a pathetic weapon even if it did hurt because snowballs, really?) and shards of ice that cut you. You ran, like always, desperately trying to flee from your tormentors. When they caught up with you they surrounded you with a mist that burned your throat and choked you. It ripped the oxygen from you lungs and every time you gasped for air it only got worse. The mist chilled you to the bone and sucked every ounce of warmth and good feelings from your body. A burning sensation engulfed you, but it felt more soaked in chemicals so it wasn't actually warm. You waited for your death because that was the only thing that ever woke you from your nightmares, but you knew it would never come because you were already dead in this dream. You were going to live this nightmare until the end of time and you were never going to wake up. You were frantic. You tried to fight back harder than before but you kept getting weaker and weaker and any control you had was slipping. You wanted to give up. You wanted to accept your fate and hope that they would stop soon. You then hear Satan’s crackling laugh in the background and it really pisses you off. It’s like your misery is his pleasure, which it probably is considering he is Satan. You move to flick him off but you don’t have the energy to and you realize you’re slipping further and further and you are starting to let go.

Just then a light encases you and an angel reaches down and touches your face causing a burst of warmth to spring from your cheek. The warmth on your face isn’t much but it’s there and you want to reach out to the angel but you can’t, not yet. You want to say something but you can’t manage any words. But now you have something, something to hold on to. And you are never going to let it go.

///

The next time you wake up you feel like the shittiest piece of crap imaginable. Frozen solid crap. That time you woke up after getting wasted with Terezi and her weird rivalry type boyfriend (Gamzee was his name, you really don't like him much) on every type of drug and drink? Nope, doesn’t compare to what you feel now. Now you feel like you’ve been to hell and back, and remembering your dream you guess you kind of did do that. You are painfully numb all over because an oxymoron is the best way to describe things, but you seem to be thawing out. You blink hard and open your eyes slightly. You automatically cringe when the florescent light hits your eyes, even if it doesn’t really hurt, but you don’t like how everything is so bright because that means you are exposed.

Where the fucking hell are your shades?

You look around the bathroom and see that your sunglasses are sitting on top of your jacket and clothes on the counter. You slowly lift yourself out of the water; not trusting your limbs to do what you want them to do just yet and in your state right now your stability is questionable. You then proceed to reach over to grab your wicked anime shades and smoothly replace them on top of your nose where they belong. You sit back down in the tub and into the warm water that’s welcoming you.

Wait just one fucking moment. Back that shitty train up. Florescent light? Bathroom, counter, tub? Where the fucking hell are you? And why am I naked? You look down to notice that your boxers are still intact. Almost naked, you amend.

You look around the small room. There isn’t much, just a bathtub with a shower in it, a porcelain throne, a sink, and a cabinet, but it was a bathroom so there wasn’t much to expect. It was clean, much unlike the one at your apartment, and the light pink towels hanging on the rack were neat and orderly. 

You debate what to do for a second when the door opens and a boy who looks a bit younger than you walks in with a pot, some clothes, and a white towel. You take a moment to note that he is really attractive. He looks thin but you can tell he has a good set of muscles under that loose shirt, especially since he can wield that pot that probably has something in it like it’s no business. His black hair is sticking up everywhere like the world’s worst bed head but it fits him well. And damn does his hair look soft. And then you notice that the soft features of his face are twisted in worry, which doesn’t really suit him, but it would be a lie to say it was anything but adorable. He turns to you and in that moment you witness the most brilliant blue eyes framed in large, ridiculous glasses widen in surprise, and not a second latter does a large grin tear from his lips to reveal a bad case of buck teeth.

You are Dave motherfucking Strider. You ran away from home and slept outside only to wake up almost naked in a bathtub located at Whofuckingknowswhereville. And you just fell in love. You just fell in love at first fucking sight like one of your Bro’s anime girls with the new kid in her class or like a Disney prince charming with an extremely dorky princess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really bad with Dave so please forgive me. If my failure is too offensive, please tell me. Tips are welcome. Comments are welcome. Feedback is welcome. Compliments are sure as hell welcome. Criticism is welcome as well. Can’t get better if you don’t know what’s wrong.


	3. John: Embarrass yourself

You are John Egbert and your guest is awake! And he is wearing his shades already. This guy is kind of strange.

“Good…” you check your watch, “morning! How are you feeling?” You set the fresh clothes next to the stranger’s damp ones on the counter as well as the clean towel. You bring the pot of hot water over to the tub and set it on the side, taking care that it won’t accidently be knocked over. You put your hand on the guy’s forehead to take his temperature. He is still a bit cold to the touch but it looks like the color is returning to his face.

What does the water feel like to you?” you ask him as you test the water in the tub. It’s barely lukewarm.

He looks at you skeptically for a moment and answers, “It feels like warm water.” His silky voice catches you off guard. It has a slight accent from somewhere but you can’t place it. You forget what you were doing for a moment and you hope that he doesn’t notice the flush on your cheeks that surely is there.

"Can I dump this pot of hot water in, or would that make you too hot?”

He smirks; he totally saw that, crap. “I don’t think the ladies could handle it if I become any hotter. They would all swoon at the sight of me and fall down at my feet and I would have to climb a mountain every time I wanted to go anywhere. Even guys will be swooning to get a piece of this fine Strider ass. And it will be all your fault for putting that pot of water in here because I’m chill as fuck right now.” You see that he shivers oh so slightly.

You stare at him. Did he really just say that? This guy must be so full of himself, what a jerk! Though you can't help being concerned for his health.

“Now, may I ask you what the hell is going on?” he says nonchalantly and you couldn’t tell if there was really any emotion there. Stupid shades, you make a note to make him take them off. Who wear sunglasses in the bathroom anyways? You give him that his eyes might be a bit sensitive but still. Crap you still need to answer his question and upon remembering this you also remember what is going on. And now you just out right blush. Here is an attractive boy, naked in your bathtub because you undressed him and put him there and now he’s looking at you and, oh god this is embarrassing! You haven’t even reacted for, like, five seconds and then you get a wonderful idea. Perfect. You hold your serious face long enough for him to raise an eyebrow.

“No, you may not ask. What is happening is top secret and telling you would be a breach to my instructions. You may not know where you are, you may not know why you are here, and you may not know what is going on. So please, keep all questions to yourself for the time being.” The boy gives you a skeptical look and you hold your dead pan for a grand total of two more seconds before a grin shatters it and you have a fit of uncontrollable laughter. “Sorry, I’m not being very gentlemen-like, now am I?” You give him an apologetic smile and he smirks again. You find it attractive for some unimaginable reason and feel the need to look away. However if you’re not looking at his face then you’re afraid you’ll look at his chest, which is something you wish not to do right now because he’s hot. You just thought he was hot, didn’t you? That actually happened didn’t it? Welp, that’s not going to happen again, nope, never. You push all your thoughts out of you mind to make room for what you are going to tell him. You figure honesty’s the best policy so you start from the beginning and you don’t leave out anything besides your thoughts on him being attractive. He doesn’t need to know that.

He sat there and listened patiently until you finished and then asked, “Why was I covered in snow?”

You laugh, “I was kind of wondering that myself! Do you remember what happened? How come you were in the park?”

He hesitated a second and then told you, “I kind of was sleeping there since I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

You frown. “Why? Are you homeless? You really don’t look like you are, but then why were you sleeping in the park with this blizzard! That’s really dangerous, you almost died!”

You think you surprised him because he jerks his head back slightly. “Blizzard? It was lightly snowing when I went to sleep.”

You shake your head, “We had a freak storm come in last night and now there’s at least three feet of snow outside. My power is out so I can’t really call anyone further than twenty feet away.” You give him a small smile.

“Fuck. I could have died.”

“Yep. It’s a good thing you didn’t.”

“Thanks. Thanks for making sure I didn’t.”

Again, he catches you off guard. After how full of himself he seemed earlier the last thing you thought he’d do was thank you. You don’t really understand this person. “You’re…you’re welcome.” So he is a nice guy? He semi-smiles, normally you wouldn’t think that was a hint of a smile but it looks sort of different than his smirk. More genuine you would say. Then you realized you never actually put the hot water in the tub.

“I’m going to put the pot of water in now, so be prepared to become a world class mountain climber!” you grin and dump the hot water, taking care not to splash him and making sure that you don’t warm it up too quickly. “Defiantly going to get you to the hospital as soon as possible,” you mumble mostly to yourself. He raises an eyebrow and you explain yourself. “It doesn’t look like you have frostbite but you could as well have had it, and I believe that you got hypothermia. That’s one of the reasons why I started you off with room temperature water and gradually added more hot water to it.” You left it at that. You didn’t want to go into the details of you actually beginning the process of making his body temperature normal, like how you felt his fingers and toes to make sure they weren’t hard with frostbite or how you wrapped him in a blanket and sort of snuggled with him in attempt to warm him a bit more before you put him in water. He also didn’t need to know that.

You then suddenly become aware of his hot nakedness and do not resist the urge to look away, suddenly finding the floor very interesting. “You should probably stay in the bath for a few more hours,” you tell him as you turn away and stand up with the pot. “I’ll come in once in a while to pour some more hot water in, okay? You also need to drink lots water, so I’ll bring in some tap water.”

Dave smirks again and to be honest you kind of want him to actually smile. "What? No hot chocolate?"

You grin. “Not until you feel a little warmer. You know what happens when you pour boiling water on glass that has been in the freezer, right? I don’t want your fragile glass heart to be shattered with my world class hot chocolate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, before I get into serious business and lose your attention, please direct your attention to the last line in the second paragraph. I hid a treat there that you probably didn’t pick up on. Please reread it. Now think. What did Dave just say in the chapter? What do you think happened? Still don’t get it? “The color is returning to his face” after John was getting all up close and personal. Hmm. He’s blushing. There I said it. Stalled it long enough too to give you a chance, hopefully I spelled it out well enough.
> 
> Serious Business time. So I got my study on and found out that yeah, Dave probably should have gotten frostbite, but hey it’s Dave and it’s a story. And he is one hell of a sleeper in this fanfic. I bet Bro had a hay day when he found out but decided not to torment him so much because of his inability to wake up. And also John, in fact, was not supposed to put him in water at all if it was just hypothermia and just warm him up by putting him in dry clothes and set him by the fire like what he did at first. But then again, it’s still a story and John is a bit of a derp. So this is what I found out about that you’re actually supposed to do:
> 
> For Hypothermia-  
> 1) Call 911 (Surprise!)  
> 2) Bring the person inside  
> 3) Remove wet clothes and replace with dry  
> 4) Wrap them in a blanket and keep them warm, by a fire place would be nice  
> 4) Make sure they drink plenty of water
> 
> For Frostbite:  
> 1) Call 911 (Big Surprise!)  
> 2) Bring the person inside  
> 3) Remove any clothing that restricts blood flow (like rings)  
> 4) Put the affected area in warm water (like 100F degrees) for 20-40min  
> 5) DO NOT:  
> A) Rub affected area  
> B) Pop any blisters  
> C) Do step four if people are actually going come for the victim in a reasonable amount of time because we don’t want the area to refreeze. That would be really bad and do more damage.
> 
> Got any questions? Got any concerns? Got a problem with my story not being really accurate? Feel free to message me somehow, I don’t care exactly how. I trust if you really care enough you’ll make it happen. I’ve got nothing to do with my life anyway.


	4. Dave: Fall Hard

You are Dave motherfucking Strider and this kid wasn’t kidding when he said that his hot chocolate was world class. He fucking made it from scratch. No boxes with fake powdery crap, even if that stuff is still the shit. But you literally saw him ground his own coco beans. The temperature was perfect, it was warm enough to send pleasant warmth throughout your body but it didn’t burn your tongue and leave that awful sandpaper feeling. That's the worst. You are sitting in his living room, taking claim of the entire couch wrapped in the softest blanket in the world; the one from Costco. The fire place is containing a huge ass fire that is flaring all over the place, desperately trying to escape but the glass doesn’t let it. Above it there is the portrait of this old woman that is more likely than not this kid’s grandma. And judging from the urn under it she is more likely than not sharing the warmth of the fire with you. The coffee table has a stack of clown coasters with a single one on table in front of you for the gods’ nectar that you are holding in your hands. You notice that there are more clown themed figurines and shit lying around. The TV is good sized and there is a case of movies next to it. You already scanned them earlier when you first entered the room with the derp telling you to make yourself at home, and boy did make yourself comfortable. All the movies he has were shit and he seriously has a man crush on this one actor because he shows up in most of the DVD covers.

It’s really…domestic. If feels like an actual home, like one you see on a Sunday evening.

You feel kind of lonely and out of place. Not that Bro did a bad job raising you, he taught you everything you know and you’re extremely grateful to him, but you feel like you missed out on a few thing growing up in a fucked up home.

The boy walks in with his own cup…and another one…and grabs two coasters for the drinks. He gives you one of his grins and you twitch you lip in response, keeping your cool and not showing a damn thing like a proper Strider. He opens his mouth to say something but he cuts himself off with a look like someone just told him that his movie collection was the shittiest, which you haven’t even done yet. Yet.

“I never introduced myself properly!” he exclaims and promptly sets his cup down. He walks over to you and sticks out his hand. “I’m John Egbert, sorry for being so rude.”

You nod slightly and give his hand a nice, firm shake. “Strider. Dave Strider.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Dave!” he tells you as he walks back to the drinks, taking a quick sip out of one and picks up the other. Same, you think. “I’ll be right back.” You raise your eyebrow in question, but he doesn’t see it. However, you question was answered when you heard a light thumping on the stairs and a little girl, who looks about seven years of age, pops her head out around the corner.

She’s a little short, like John who was about a whole half a foot shorter than you, but unlike him she has yellowy blonde hair and brown eyes. She’s thin as a stick, not unlike you, and looks like she has canned energy filling her personal storage room. You notice her wide grin that shows her perfect straight teeth. Overall she looks nothing like John and you wonder what their relation is.

“John! Can we play in the snow today?” she says, excitement evident in her voice and the way she holds herself on her toes as she leans forward slightly. She then notices you and hops with each step as she approaches you. “My name is Casey, John’s little sister, nice to meet you!” she shakes your hand like how John just did and asks, “Would you like to play too?”

You shake your head no and ponder how the two could be so closely related. Heh, genetics. “Name’s Dave and I already had enough snow for the day, maybe next time, sweetie.” She pouts and looks at you with puppy dog eyes. She is the best pouter. It is her. And it’s adorable as fuck. You ruffle her long hair that is pulled in to two pony tails in retaliation.

John walks up next to her and hands her the hot chocolate. “Dave is sick and can’t go outside. It would not be proper to leave our guest alone while we had a blast, so we won’t go out today. Maybe in a few days.”

“But Joooooooohn! You said we could play outside next time it snowed! And I do believe it is snowing!” He ruffles her hair like you did and she pouts more. “I wish dad was here, he would play with me.”

“Who said anything about not playing?” John says with a wicked grin and Casey gasps and sets her cup down just in time for John to grab her and throw her over his shoulder. She’s giggling like crazy and pounding her small fists on John’s back.

“Let me go! No stop John, no!” John grabs her legs and prevents them from flailing. He then uses his free hand to tickle her feet, resulting in a fit of laughter.

And you thought it looked domestic before.

But instead of feeling lonely you feel light and happy.

You really like it here.

That is crazy given the circumstances and the fact that you’re a complete stranger.

You don’t feel that way at all, though, it feels more like you’ve known these two adorable derps since forever.

Casey has kicked her legs free, climbed over Johns shoulder, and positioned herself in an upside-down piggy back ride while you were in your mind place. She is rewarded with an “Agg, Casey!” and she continues to laugh herself silly. You lift the side of your mouth up into something that may or may not be a smile because this was seriously the cutest thing you have ever seen. Hello Kitty cannot compare. Puppies chewing on slippers are left in the dust. If you could bottle this cuteness you would be a millionaire within hours.

“Daaaaaaaave, help!” Casey calls.

You set your cup down and unwrap yourself from the blanket.

Looks like Egbert could use some help.

You go straight for her sides.

Casey bursts out with laughter and kicks out, causing her legs to let go of John neck. You catch her back with your chest and support her shoulders with your hands, holding her upside-down. Like a boss.

“No fair! Two against one is dirty!” She tries to squirm out of your grasp but you hold her in place.

John gives you a shit eating grin and then asks Casey, “What do you think would happen if Dad was here?”

Casey folds her arms and pouts. “We would have a three way cake war!”

“Or we would be having a tickling battle like this one!” He said and started tickling her again.

This lasts for a while. And it was really fun. You never knew how fun not-so-ironic tickling battles were, but you really enjoyed yourself and you may or may not have genuinely laughed on more than one occasion. No one and nothing was spared. Everything was fair game. Arm pits, feet, sides, stomachs, and even the back of John’s neck. Casey showed you that one and the both of you teamed up against Mr. Brilliant Blue Eyes to the point where those eyes started tearing. You weren’t spared, however; next it was your turn to be gained up against. They found ticklish spots you never knew you had. It took everything you had, all of Bro’s training and years of indifferent deadpan practice, to not start squealing like Casey. And by the end of the epic fight that you proudly claim victory of you couldn’t help but grin. John and you end up being chased by little Ms. Beaming Brown Eyes. You race ahead of John after you both turn a corner in the kitchen and he gives you the biggest smile you have ever seen and you swear it’ll break his face. And it’s for you. That beautiful smile is being directed at you. You are turning back into the living room, and oh fucking God almighty. You are falling so hard for this boy that you barely know. You tear your eyes away just in time for you to realize that you are, in fact, no longer facing up wards, and you are, indeed, falling. You hit the ground hard and you lay there, stunned for a second.

“Oh Dave! Are you okay?” John says and kneels next to you.

“Dave, what happened?” you hear Casey say on the other side of you.

You lift yourself off the ground and smile slightly. You just literally fell hard for John. This is ironic as fuck. “I’m fine I just tripped,” you tell them, looking at what caused your downfall. It’s a life sized harlequin doll. It’s kind of creepy and reminds you of your brother’s puppets. Welp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post this yesterday, but I acidently posted the wrong chapter...Whoops. So here ya go, hope you enjoy it. :) Also, I want to give a shout out to yamamoto_kou, because I see him (or her idk) on almost every kudos list for all the Dave/John fics I read. And I assure you, read a lot of them.


	5. John: Wake up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Posting this chapter for John's Birthday! But it's not his birthday in this chapter because there is no way I could have written everything up to that point in time. Sorry. But, hey, this is a quick update!
> 
> Edit:  
> Hahaha. I really like how they had a movie marathon when the electricity is out. Yep, sounds legit. Boy did I screw up. Hehehehehe, whoops.

Your name is John Egbert and you wake up to find yourself tangled up in a bundle of limbs. It takes you a second to remember that Casey, Dave, and you fell asleep together on the couch during the movie marathon last night. You push a hand away from your face and observe the pile. You guys started off with Casey in between Dave and yourself, but now Dave is laying over both of your laps. He is using his arm as a pillow with his hand sticking straight up in your face. Casey had her legs drawn up under Dave and it baffles you to think that that could possibly be comfortable for either of them. She leaned over and is now using Dave’s hip as her pillow. You sit up from your own pillow, which was Casey’s shoulder, and stretch. You check the grandfather clock for the time, 6:35, and you slither out from under Dave. You smile fondly at the two left on the couch. They look so cute and peaceful. You take Dave’s ridiculous shades off and set them on the coffee table, and then you ruffle Casey’s hair.

You decide to let them sleep a bit longer. You’ll just make breakfast once someone else wakes up. You start you’re day by taking care of your biology club experiment and doing a few household chores; sweeping the kitchen, washing the dishes, cleaning the bathroom, and even some dusting. You put a bit of classical music to listen to while you work and you can’t help but hum along. By the time you notice what time it is, a good hour has passed. You sneak a glance at the two still sleeping and you grin. At some point they rearranged themselves and now are properly cuddling each other. Casey’s head is snuggled into Dave’s chest and he has his arms wrapped around her. You are a little jealous because you want to cuddle too! It looks so comfortable and ever since Casey started claiming her woman hood you two haven’t had a proper cuddling session in a long time. However you have to get the breakfast supplies out and set the table. Casey should be waking up soon anyway.

You get out the flour, sugar, milk, eggs, butter, salt, vanilla extract, and baking powder out of the cabinets and fridge. You avoid the pre made mix like the plague. When you are almost done mixing everything a little voice comes from the other room.

“John.”

You immediately set the bowl down and briskly walk into the living room.

“Hey Casey, good morning.”

She raises her arms with the unmistakable message of ‘pick me up.’ You lift her into your arms and whisper in her ear. “What’s wrong?”

“I had another bad dream,” she says in a small voice that is barely audible. You hold her tighter. Ever since she was little she had nightmares almost every other night. They’ve gotten less frequent with the years but every now and then they come back.

“What was it about this time?” you ask, though you already know what it was, as you rub circles on her back.

“You died. Again.”

She has those kinds of dreams the most. It’s either Dad died, your sister Jade died, her friends from school died, you died. Sometimes she describes these alien type things and people she has never met that die in her dreams too. However, more often than not you are the one that dies and you don’t really know what to make of that. You start to walk forward but you end up tripping on that damn harlequin doll. When did he get over here? You know you won’t be able to regain your balance so you make yourself fall on the couch so Casey won’t get hurt.

Sorry Dave. This is an awful way to wake up.

“Casey, are you okay?” You let go of her and she stands up.

“Yeah, I’m fine. John, you’re such a klutz!” she laughs at you and her mood instantly brightens at your expense.

“Yeah I know. Sorry, Dave, for waking you up.”

Your apology is meaningless, though, because Dave is still asleep.

You flash a look at Casey and you both grin mischievously.

///

You tried everything. Every sleeping prank you and Casey could come up with. You started with the classic with some of Dad’s shaving cream and a feather. He fell for it beautifully, complete with him using both hands with cream on them to rub his face, but he didn’t wake up. Casey dug out her crappy makeup kit for little girls that she got for a present one year from a friend. After wiping his face off, she gave him a princess make-over but you must admit that Dave looked more like a clown than a princess. You tied his shoelaces together. Casey put ice down his shirt. You blared a dramatic Beethoven piece from your iPod. Casey put salt down his shirt. You stuck a fake spider in his mouth. Casey braided his hair. You put the kitchen timer next to his ear while it was going off. Casey pinched his nose.

He wouldn’t wake up.

Casey and you were stumped.

And then Casey’s stomach growls.

“I guess I’ll just go and finish making breakfast!” you laugh.

It doesn’t take long to get the pancakes in the pan and cooking. You start humming quietly to yourself again as the aroma of the pancakes drifts from the pan and engulfs the whole room. You love the smell of home cooked food. Unless it’s cake, but usually your dad uses the box mix because you can’t stand that stuff. Casey sits patiently at the table since you already got everything out while she was asleep. The first batch is ready and you set the pancakes on a serving plate on the table.

It is then that Dave decides to grace you with his conscious self. After you hear a thud followed by a curse (you can hear your tricksterGambit level go up and by the look on Casey’s face, hers is going up too) he groggily makes his way to the kitchen. Aaaaaaaand he has his shades on. You have to do something about those stupid pointy shades. But you guess that compared to the makeup, shaving cream, and such it doesn’t seem too abnormal. No it does, who are you kidding! It just adds to how hilarious he looks. Damn, you and Casey did a swell job.

"Mmmmm, food?” he asks intelligently.

“Yep! Come on and sit down so we can eat!” Casey tells him, perfectly concealing any laughter or emotion in order to avoid giving even the slightest hint that anything is off. She pats the seat next to her, and Dave obliges to her demand willingly.

“Gotta thank ya for these little surprises yall set up for me,” he says with a slightly heavier accent as he sets some melted ice cubes on the table and a plastic spider. You can defiantly place his accent now under ‘Southern.’ Casey giggles with a knowing smirk because he hasn’t seen the half of the surprises yet.

You give everyone two pancakes. However they are not just pancakes, oh no! They are fun shaped pancakes, because everyone knows pancakes always taste better when they resemble something else. You give Casey a heart and a sloppy flower and Dave gets a spider and a bunny. When you slap them on his plate you are rewarded with a drawn out yes! You smile because you’re glade that Dave appreciates your creativity. You place a sun and a bear at your spot.

“Help yourself with any of the toppings.” You can see Dave do his little smirk-smile thing. Casey puts her usual maple syrup, banana, and whipped cream on hers while you load yours with blueberries and syrup. Dave ogles at his choices. He ends up going with syrup, whip cream, and chocolate chips. You are now really glad that you went the extra step to get out the chips that your dad likes to have. You take a break from your breakfast to cook the rest of the batter. You’ll probably have enough for breakfast tomorrow.

Dave gets whipped cream on his noise and cheek, so he takes a napkin and whips it off. You let out a small giggle with Casey when he stares at the makeup stains on it. Without a word he stands up and goes to the bathroom. When he comes back, his face and hair are clean of make-up, shaving cream, and hair bands.

He sits back down with a single word, "Beautiful."

Casey and you crack up laughing.

After you’re done cooking, you reclaim your seat, watching Dave and Casey help themselves to seconds, and finish of your own food. Everything continues as normal, like, really normal, as if Dave has always been in your family for years. It’s as if Dave belongs here with you guys because he fits in so well. You find yourself believing that he does belong here. Sure, he can be a douche sometimes and his irony is strange, but he gets along well with Casey and you. And you really enjoyed playing with him! You had so much fun yesterday; it felt like you were a kid again!

“These!” Dave says abruptly, startling you. He picks up his plate and holds it up in the air, his face still hiding any emotion but he sounds sincere. “These are the best fucking pancakes I have ever had!”

You don’t really know how to respond to this so you just nod, chide him for cursing in front of Casey, and hope you’re not blushing.

Casey giggles and agrees. “I know! John and Dad are the best cooks! Dad bakes all the time and I help!” Casey says proudly. “We bake ten cakes every week! And it’s so much fun when we start throwing them at each other! It takes forever to clean up though…”

"That sure is a lot of cakes for one household."

You were not expecting or mentally prepared for what Dave does next at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was the most painful chapter I have ever written. Okay that’s not completely true, the next one is a pain too, but still. That utterly sucked. I really need more of Dave, I know it’s just. UGGG. Dave! You’re so awesome but why can’t I write your personality properly? And please feel free to tell me “Hey, you put a ‘k’ instead of a ‘g’ in ‘thing,’” or “Hey, that bit of dialogue didn’t make any sense because Dave didn’t actually respond.” Needless to say, I went back and edited it again. Also, I make a mistake and gave Dave aviators already, so now he has his silly pointed anime shades. Sorry for the mess up.


	6. Dave: Enjoy yourself

You are Dave Strider and you start to feel some sick beats boiling in your blood but you really don’t have the mind right now to rap.

“Your family likes to bake.”

The bigger Egbert nods his head. “I guess it runs in the family.”

“Tons of mother loving cake,” the side of your mouth is slowly trying to force its way up. You can still rhyme though.

John gives you a funny look. “Yeah.”

“And it’s more than you can take.” Casey giggles. 

“No, I just don’t like Betty Croker, I mean, that stuff is nasty.”

“You think box mixes are fake.”

“Dave. Dave, you’re rhyming.”

“Really? Didn’t notice, cupcake.” The little Egbert is laughing herself silly and her bro is staring at you in pretend horror.

“Dave. No. Stop. Now.”

“Too much for you to intake?”

John groans but you don’t stop. You can’t stop. Not when you can feel the blaze of the baking beats boiling over the brim of your brain. Okay, that’s a bit dramatic, but it’s all for the irony. Mostly.

“Chill, there won’t be a heart break

‘Cause I won’t make a mistake

I’ll keep this up ‘till daybreak

Though I’m not really awake

So I’ll finish my pancake

It’s better than my cornflake

Which is my basic intake.”

You take a bite of your fluffy pancake cloud of heaven while the Egberts recover from their fits of laughter. Seriously, that wasn’t even good and it made them lose so much of their composure. You genuinely smile and, even though every Strider sense is yelling at you to stop, you like the feeling.

“Did I say something, snowflake?” you ask with a raised eyebrow and the most innocent face you can muster at the moment.

“Dave, shut up!” Big Egbert yells at you still laughing. “Besides, you used intake twice, so there! You did make a mistake, you big fake!” And then he fucking sticks his tongue out at you.

“Oh, my god Egbert, really? Did you seriously just stick your pick flab of muscle at me? You are the biggest dork. It is you.”

The mini Egbert scrunches up her nose, “Ew, Dave, that’s gross!” She sets her fork on her empty plate.

“What, you think pick flabs of muscle with thousands of tiny tasting tabs on them are gross?”

“Yes! That’s a really gross way to describe a tongue! Can’t you just say tongue?”

“No. How could I? Where’s the fun in that?” You deadpan and you are not surprised when she laughs at you. You have come to enjoy her laugh. Even if it’s loud and high pitched, it’s innocent and childish and you find some kind of pleasure from it so that’s good enough for you.

“And cornflakes are gross too! Do you really eat them basically?”

“I think you mean daily, but yeah, I kind of eat them most of the time. That and microwavable freezer shit…”

“Language, Dave, jeeze,” the older kid yells at you.

“Hey, I’m doing a mighty fine job constricting my colorful language to dull greys, blacks, and whites. I can’t help it if I accidently add a little color here and there to lively things up.” Egderp rolls his eyes, but you continue. “Bro and I stopped buying sugar bombs when our step mom stopped drinking we stopped eating sugar bombs. It was our way of supporting her.” Egbert suddenly holds up his hands and waves them in the unmistakable gesture of ‘hold the fuck up, what?’

“Did you just say you live on microwavable food and cereal?” he asks you.

“That was a little slow Egderp,” he raises a questioning eyebrow at his new name and Casey giggles. “And we order pizza or Chinese food whenever we go out for ironic family dinners. We dress up and everything."

The dork face palms, “I can’t believe you.”

You feign being offended by pulling back and placing a delicate hand to cover your mouth that has formed a perfect ‘o.’ You picked that up from your lovely but way too snarky half-sister, Rose. “How could you possibly not believe me? I thought we had something going for us!” you say dramatically. You put your hand to your heart and look down. “And to think that I trusted you! My fragile glass heart was not broken by your hot chocolate. Oh, no it was broken by you and you!” you say dramatically as you point to the little girl like you were solving a fucking murder mystery.

Casey jumps at the sudden accusation, “M-me?” “Yes, you. Your warm smiles and your light laughter melts my cold, unfeeling soul. It’s a crime! So well have to put you on trial!” you say as you suddenly stand up, startling both of your silly companions. And then you’re at Casey’s seat, hulling her high up in the air and running away from the table. She erupts into guffaw and its right in your ear but you don’t care because you’re having fun and she is having fun being a plane. “She laughs! She smiles! She’s guilty!” You were about to yell ‘burn the witch’ but you don’t know how well that would fly in this household so you think better of it.

John comes running out of the kitchen with his fork held up and the most serious face he could possibly muster in this situation.

“Guilty! She’s guilty!”

“Guilty!” you repeat and Casey is failing to control her laughter.

“Guilty of what?” he asks.

“Of a crime!”

“A terrible crime!”

"The worst crime!”

“Of the terrible crime of being,” he pauses for dramatic effect and you can just hear what he’s going to say next, “a witch!”

“A witch!”

“We found a witch!”

“Burn her!”

“I’m not a witch!” the laughing little witch yells.

“What makes you think she’s a which?” you ask, still running around with Casey now hung over your shoulder because even you can’t hold 70 pounds of girl in the air without getting tired.

“She turned me into a newt!” John tells you and you can’t help but grin because he got the reference. At least no one can see your face right now.

You stop on a dime and double take at John. “A newt?”

He looks down and shuffles his feet. “Well, I got better.”

Casey squirms, still suffering through uncontrollable laughter, and you lift her up again. “Burn her anyway!” The three of you continue to yell and run around the house like madmen until you all can’t breathe any longer. You find yourself lying on the floor, sucking in as much air as humanly possible while silently chuckling with the other two dorks. You can’t even begin to remember the last time you had this much fun. Oh wait, yesterday. Never mind. But before that, admittedly your life has been a bit boring. All you ever do for college is art and bull shitting your essays and at home you screw around on the internet, your guitar, and your turntables. You still mix some music but nothing has been grabbing your attention enough for you to keep up with it. Your muse was drained and over used, and now you think that these derps have restored it.

You’re happy.

And you don’t want it to end.

This brings you to the conclusion that you will force yourself not to like John, because confessing your feelings won’t bring anything but awkwardness to your relationship. There haven’t been many close friends in your life. Unfortunately, your half-sister has been your closest friend. She understands you and cares for your wellbeing, even though she uses her psychology crap too much. There was also the sister of your Bro’s boyfriend, but you never really talk to her. You don’t even remember her name. Sure you were coolest kid at school but that can make you a bit unapproachable. And everyone who does approach you is an ass or wants your ass. John is not like that at all though. He and his little sis accepted your irony with flying colors and they are truly thoughtful people.

When you calm down a little more, wait scratch that because that implies that you weren’t already calm. You are totally calm. You are the calmest. It is always you. When you focus again you sit up and observe the room you’re in since you weren’t in here yesterday. There’s a desk with papers on it and a pipe, a coat hanger with a fedora on it, a safe in the corner, piano with sheet music on it, and a guitar on a stand. “So you guys are music people too, huh.”

Casey immediately perks up, “Yes! I sing! I sing to songs while Dad plays the guitar and John plays the piano! He’s really good!”

John blushes, “I’m okay. I’m definitely not great though…”

“Yes you are, both Dad and I agree!”

“But you’re family, so of course you guys would say that!”

“Nuh uh!”

“Yes, totally.”

“No! You’re the best!”

"I’m really not.”

“How ‘bout I be the judge of that?”

They both stare at you like you have two heads. “I’m saying how about we play something and I’ll tell you what I think off big Egbert’s snazzy piano skill. What songs do you know?”

“John, John! Can we play Nights in White Satin? Please?” The Moody Blues? These kids sure have class. You do too, of course, but you weren’t really expecting to one the same page as them.

“Are you sure? We just learned it…”

“I’m sure, come on, please?” Here come the puppy dog eyes again.

“Fine, fine, fine! Let’s knock his socks off!”

“Yeah!”

“I’m not wearing socks though…”

John sits down on the bench and doesn’t even bother with the sheet music. Casey positions herself, and you casually lean on the wall next to the guitar. Piano Man only pauses for a beat before he begins playing.

Damn these kids are good.

First off, Egbert wasn’t just selling himself short, oh no. He put himself on the clearance rack for 90% off. His playing is swift, bold, and confident. Even when you listen closely you’re not able to catch the smallest mistake. It’s beautiful. And you thought you liked…Nope not going there. You’re done with that. But what you weren’t expecting in the least was that Casey didn’t sound terrible. Sure that sounds really mean but every kid, besides the ones in movies and crap, you ever heard sing sucked. Most kids haven’t had enough experience or skills to have a good sense of pitch. Or tone. It’s like, ‘Yo, you’re pitch and tone should be checked because a cat is being skinned alive in your throat. But since you’re a kid I’ll tell you that you were great because I don’t wanna hurt you feelings.” That is one thing you’re kind of glad Bro didn’t do. He never gave you meaningless praise. You had to work hard for the slight nod of his head in congratulations, the small smirk in acknowledgement, and the light pat on the shoulder that told you he was proud of you. It’s because he didn’t give them out willy-nilly that they became so meaningful to you. Anyone of those small gestures had the power to brighten up your whole week and make you almost forget everything that may have been bothering you. However, he was still blunt. You had to practice singing for a long time before Bro stopped saying that you would have to pay for all the shattered the glass. Oh god, you’re thinking about Bro again. Fuck, you really miss him. You don’t have a clue on how to resolve your issue though…Fuck it; you’ll do it latter when it actually stops snowing. Anyway, to say the least, you had no expectations for this kid. Therefore she pleasantly surprised you when your ears didn’t start bleeding. For a small child, she was a natural. Kid’s got raw talent.

You decide they have had their fun showing off for long enough. It’s time for you to wow them now. You pick up the guitar next to you and listen for a while, getting into the beat of the song, and start strumming out the notes.

“Surprise,” you tell them nonchalantly.

Their faces are priceless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me forever to post. Don't worry, there's only one more boring chapter. It should get interesting after that.


	7. John: Realize a Few Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me forever to upload this. First it was drama, then writers block, then exams, then drama, then writers block. Again. I've just been so busy, but I hope you enjoy this crap that I write.

You’re John Egbert, and, wow, okay. So the mysterious stranger, if you can still say that, whom you are housing knows the Moody Blues, you were expecting that he only listened to rap, because, well, he’s a cool kid. That’s what cool kids listen too, right? But here he is playing your dad’s guitar and it feels like the family music night you’ve had since Casey started to learn how to sing. Dad was missing of course but Dave brought something new to the song… Liveliness. Yeah you think that’s the word. Man, you find yourself thinking that, not for the first time, this guy is the coolest thing since sliced bread. You’ve never really had many friends and being sort of a nerd didn’t help that. Not like being a nerd was wrong or anything! You just guess that not all people find it appealing in a friendship. The only friend you can think of outside of your family is Rose.

But between her and your family you’ve always been happy.

And now you have Dave.

The three of you spend the next hour playing songs that you all know. The hour is filled with music, jokes, and laughter. Dave tells you that you don’t suck at all and that he was surprised when Casey didn’t sound like a gurgling reptile. After Casey and you laughed at his complementing skills, you told him he wasn’t half bad himself. You can honestly say that this is the most fun you have had in a long while and you wouldn’t be surprised if the same applied to Casey.

///

A week has passed since you stumbled upon Dave and since then he has established himself as a prevalent member of the family, even if it hasn’t been stated orally. You’re proud to say that Dave has become your best bro quite easily and swiftly. You hauled out the board games from the closet upstairs and brought them down for the three of you to play together. The only thing you guys haven’t shared much about is your pasts and families. You’ve thought about telling him about your family but Dave freezes up whenever you tried to casually bring anything up. Something has been bothering him and he has been thinking about it nonstop since the snow stopped. You’re pretty sure that it’s the reason he was sleeping outside and you’re pretty sure it had something to do with a family member. The electricity has yet to return and you think that Dave is dreading the day it does.

“Dave. Dave, listen to me,” you lightly shove his shoulder.

“Shut up. I’m tiered. Let me sleep,” he rolls over and cocoons himself in the couch blankets. For some reason he insisted on staying downstairs and not sleeping in one of the extra rooms upstairs. Something about not wanting to impose on you anymore and something about a warning against them.

“Dave, we need to talk about what we’re going to do when the electricity comes back on. No matter how awesome I think it would be, you can't stay here until the end of time,” you tell him and he shakes you off. Welp, it’s now or never, “Someone is going to be worried out of their mind about you. Like your family.”

He instantly tenses. You wait for a response but you get none so you continue.

“I know you’re uncomfortable with this, but you’re going to have to face it some time. Look I’m not going to kick you out of my house, that would be really rude, but I’m not going to let you ignore the inevitable. Dave, look at me.” He looks you in your eyes. Well you think he is. He’s still wearing those ridiculous pointy shades and you haven’t actually been able to get him to take them off. “I can’t force you to say anything, but I can give you some motivation.” He raises his eyebrow and you give him a wicked grin.

“I call for,” you say loud enough that Casey, who is in her room, can hear you, “a proposition. From now on, one will play all possible pranks on Dave Strider, the dork with the stupid shades, until he confesses what happened to him that got him stuck in the snow without out a place to stay.”

The dork gives you a look to kill. “You wouldn’t dare.”

You smile. “You know I totally will.”

“Bring it, I can take you.”

“But can you take a bundle of adorable pranking girl?”

“Fuck you.”

“Rude. Make me dinner first.”

“I tried, remember Egbert? I set the kitchen on fire.”

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“It wasn’t edible.”

He’s got you there.

///

It takes two days for Dave to crack under the constant pranks and mandatory magic shows. During that time the power came back on. The first thing you did of course was call the hospital and talk to them about Dave’s condition. They told you just to take him in for a checkup once the roads are clear. Meanwhile, you unearthed your old Colonel Sassacre’s Daunting Text to reference. From sneaking a piece of uncooked corn in his food, which wasn’t hard at all since you made all the meals, to making a match box float, to leaving the plastic on the cheese in his sandwich, to placing a fake list of pranks to do on the counter, Dave put up a gallant fight.

After a cloud of confetti covers Dave for the sixth time, this time after honey water was dumped on him beforehand, he finally is willing to talk to you.

Once Dave was out of the shower (he got drenched again because earlier you set up the shower head pointing towards him when he turned it on) the two of you sit on the couch while Casey sleeps in her bedroom.

“So what’s up?”

He sighs, “I really have to do this, don’t I?”

“Yep. Stop stalling.”

“I’ve got an older brother, about fifteen years older than me. Since my mom died and my ass of a father hasn’t been seen since I was born, he basically raised me. My step mom kept us until his eighteenth birthday when took it upon himself to look after me. I’m really indebted to him, and…I love him. A lot. But our relationship is kind of complicated. Recently we got into a silly fight but it got completely out of hand. So I kind of just left. There, my life story. Let me tell it to the world. They will weep in pity. Their tears will flood the earth faster than global warming.”

“And that’s why you don’t want to talking about it.”

He’s taken back. “What?”

“You didn’t want me to pity you.”

“I don’t need pity. I’ve grown up to be a fine Strider, thank you. I’m a strong, independent woman and I don’t need no man feeling sorry for me. Bitches be swooning, and guys be mooning, when I’m tuning, even if it’s just crooning.”

“Okay, shut up, I get your point without the shitty rhyming or memes.”

“I’m hurt, Egbert, hurt…”

“Anyway, the point is I’m your friend, I might feel sorry that something like that happened to you but I’m not going to go out of my way to treat you differently. I’ll probably regret saying this because I’m sure you ego will bite me later, but you’re really cool. Like, the coolest person I’ve met. And no matter how many times I say you’re a dork or a loser, which it totally true, you’ll still be my awesome best bro,” you give him a smile and pull him into a hug. He tenses for a second before he hugs you back. “I know how hard dealing with siblings may be, I’ve got three older ones myself, and they’re a handful!” At some point you started rubbing circles into his back, he seems to like it so you don’t stop.

“My god your house must have been crawling with little kids, how did your dad handle all the dork?”

“Hey, my siblings are the best! It’s thanks to my brother that no one bullied me at school, my sister’s pranks and mine only rival my father’s, and my other sister planted an awesome garden outside!” you let go of him to give him a stern look. Man your father can pull it off better than you can.

“D-O-R-K-S.”

“Oh, shut up!”

Surprisingly he does for a few moments, and then he says softly, “My bro’s the best too.”

You smile softly and look him in his eyes, at least, you hope you do. “When we were little, before Casey was in the picture, the four of us would run around and play adventure all the time. That was our thing. The neighbors would call Dad saying, ‘You oldest got stuck in the tree in front of our house again,’ or, ‘Could you please tell your children not to eat the berries on our bushes! Your little girl never fails to snag the nicest ones for herself,’ and, ‘Your youngest fell again, I cleaned him up and his brother is carrying him home now.’ We got into a lot of trouble, but we had the best time.”

With an encouraging nudge, Dave joins too. “When I was little, Bro would spend as much time with me as possible, but…he was always away on trips. He would call once or twice, but it was never enough. But when he was here, he would, without fail, take me out to the park or to get ice cream. He taught how to take care of myself at a young age. I got my first shitty sword at age four, you know.” He smirks at the thought and you wonder who in their right mind would give a four-year-old a sword. “Bro was, no, is, everything I want to be. He’s the chilliest fuck I’ve ever known and I have yet to beat him at a strife. I’ve come close many times, but he always ups his game at the last moment and suddenly he’s twice as hard to fight. His rapping and mixing is legendary. He’s a genius with robotics. He’s everything.”

You grin at him and he gives you a small smile in return. It suddenly occurs to you that this sounds familiar, but you instantly dismiss the thought. You give him another short hug.

“Uh, this is so sappy,” he drawls and you laugh at him.

“You’re so dramatic, Dave, get over it. You need to talk about your problems so they don’t build up and make you explode!” You complete the dramatic effect with glorious had motions and Dave silently laughs at you with a small smile escaping to his lips. You both laugh for a while, but it’s time for Dave’s problem to be resolved, as much as he’s dreading it.

“Dave,” you say with serious written across your face in big bubble letters. You haven’t really mastered the look like your father.

Dave responds with his signature raised eyebrow.

“You need to call your brother.”

“No.”

“Yes, yes you do. From what I’ve heard of him, he sounds like he would be worried shitless about you. Just give him a call saying that you didn’t kick the bucket. You don’t even have to tell him where you are or when you’re going home, but please just do that much for him. Okay?”

“Can I call tomorrow morning?”

“No you will call this morning. You have three hours to gather all your composure and ironies before I will personally bake a pie and through it at you.”

“Will it be apple?”

“No it will be blueberries.”

“Damnit, I’ll have to hurry on that call.”

“Great. I’m going to wake Casey and we’ll start on breakfast. You don’t have to help today, just think about what you’re going to say. You get to clean up afterwards though, fair warning. I’ll take my shower then.” You give him two thumbs up and he snaps double pistols at you. You laugh at that because Jake always responded with double pistols. Still smiling, you ascend upstairs, ready for the day to come.

You later find that you were not at all ready for the day to come.


	8. Jade: Return to find someone unsuspected and unsuspectingly surprise someone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm going to play with some other characters points of view! Yay! Also I made a Tumblr for this fic because of a request. The Tumblr will have more extras and updates I guess and it'll just be easier to talk to me and stuff. Idk knock yourselves out.
> 
> When Can I See You Again Tumblr:  
> MysticalMondfeesFanfic
> 
> (surprise!)Personal Tumblr:  
> MysticalMondfee

You are Jade Harley and you plow through the two feet deep snow on the sidewalk with your backpack and duffel bag slung over your shoulder. Finally, you and Jake are returning home from your two month long Alaskan Adventure! Jake isn’t actually with you right now because he wanted to see how his boyfriend was doing, but he’ll be back in a day or two. You’ve been to the Strider household a few times before because you wanted to meet your cousin’s boyfriend. He’s really cool and he likes robots too! However you’re not accompanying Jake this time because they will want to be alone for a while. Besides you can’t wait to tell John and Casey all about all the things you did! You are so excited

You open the front door and drop your bags, coat, snow pants, and boots in the walk way because unpacking can come later. First, surprising John.

With a wicked grin you enter the living room while listening for John to make his presences known, even though you know he’s going to be in the kitchen anyway so you just head there. You stop once you hear him finish up a conversation on the phone and then start doing the dishes. NOW!!!

“JOHN!” you yell as you run over to him and pick him up in a bear hug accompanied with a spin. He yelps in surprise and this isn’t John. John squeals not yelps. Plus he’s sure not taller than you like this guy. You frown and set the random person who’s not John down and look at him. He turns around to look at you too. He looks a little stunned but it’s hard to tell. It takes you a second but it’s hard to miss the cool anime shades; you look at your fingers for a reminder.

“Dave!" you exclaim because wow! "Dave, oh my god, why are you here?” you give him another bear hug minus the spinning. “I haven’t talked to you since forever! How’s it going cool kid?” You give him a nice grin.

“Well, fuck, Harley. Good to see you too. I’m chill as ice as usual. How ‘bout you? Adventure bone broken yet?” He wipes his wet hands on the towel.

“No way! I just got back from Alaska with Jake! He’s gone over to you sweet flat to see your brother!”

“Well, shit. Guess I’m not going back tonight. Probs not tomorrow, too. I mean, fuck, look at it outside. There’s no way in hell I’m walking back in that,” Dave says with his stoic face.

Your face is much less so. “Why are you here in the first place? I didn’t know you were coming, much less that you knew where we lived!”

Dave is silent for a moment, processing what you said. It seems like you really surprised him!

“Dave!” you hear John call from the stairs. “Could you please help Casey with her…”

You interrupt him with your tornado hug of love, “John!”

“Jade!” John squeals and gives you a hug back. “Oh, gosh, you’re home! Ow, fuck! You’re crushing me, you oaf, lit go already.”

You set him down nicely and you both have a fit of laughter. You finally chirp in with, “I didn’t know you were friends with Dave! Why haven’t you told me about your broship earlier, you could have come with Jake and me to his house!”

John replies with surprise evident in his voice. “You and Jake know Dave already?” He glances at Dave, who has stayed silent for this conversation.

You frown at him, “John, what is Dirks last name?”

He looks at you questioningly, “Yeah, Jake’s boyfriend, right. Dirk..." You can just see the gears working in his brain. He's biting on his lower lip and looking up and everything. Geez your brother is a dork. "Dirk Stri...Strider!" The gears finally clicked! "Oh, fuck! Dirk Strider!” he turns to Dave who is sporting some furled brows. “You’re related to him right? He’s your older bro. Oh gosh! Why did I not see this sooner? The stupid shades and ironies should of given it away, if not for that stupid ‘hide all emotions’ thing they’ve got going for them!”

Sometimes your brother can be a little slow…

Dave steps forward with his extended in the universal 'Hold the fuck up' position. “So now that it’s cleared up that I am Dave motherfucking Strider, the little brother of the one! The only! Asshole of Douchery! Dirk Strider, who is currently tasting the adventure which is Jake English’s dick.” John blushes and you giggle at him. Dave can say some weird things sometimes! “Let me get some things sorted out for my benefit, because I know it’s hard to believe that this fine ass Strider isn’t always on top of every fucking thing that is thrown at him. First off, Jake English and this beautiful chick going by the name of Jade Harley are siblings. Since Harley here said she lives in this fine residence I take it she is related to this dork, am I right? Of course I’m fucking right, I just wanna know how.” You have to say that’s the most you’ve ever heard Dave say at one given moment! Wow!

“Jake is actually my cousin; we grew up as siblings though!” you pipe in response to Dave.

“Yeah, Jade is kind of my sister, too,” John adds.

“Fuck, really?” he says, a little taken back. “That was almost as unsuspected as teen pregnancy. So I take it that you’re one of the older sisters John said he had. John, you want to tell me who your other siblings are so I don’t suddenly find out that all the other people I’m slightly connected to are siblings of yours as well. Fuck, are you related to the pizza boy who I swear has a thing for me? I mean every time I call Pizza Hut he comes a flying.” 

“Uhh, I don’t think so. Seen as the only brother I have only has eyes for your brother.”

Dave nods. “Yeah, okay, the whole Ms. Bundle of Joy and Mr. Adventure are sort of siblings and Ms. Bundle of Joy and Mr. Dorkiest Dork to ever Dork are sort of siblings would make Mr. Dorkiest Dork to ever Dork and Mr. Adventure be sort of siblings too. I got it.” You, on the other hand, did not at all get what he said.

“I need an interpreter. Can anyone here translate from Dave to English, please?” John says with a small grin and you giggle at him.

Dave sighs. “You said you all are ‘sort of siblings.’ What do you mean by that?”

John stumbles over his words, “I…we…you see…it’s…dad…uh.” When he rubs his neck you decide to help him out.

“We’re all adopted.”

“Whoa, okay, wait a sec here. That means all of you right. John, Jade, Jake, Casey, and another chick. Your dad adopted all of you?”

“Yessiree. And the other chick’s name is Jane!”

John smiled, “He originally was just going to adopt me but…”

He was cut off when a door closed upstairs and a little voice called whining from the top of the stairs.

“Daaaaaaaave! Hurry up and come help me! You promised! Daaaave!”

You make yourself visible from the stairway with a grin plastered to your face. “Casey! I’m home!” In two seconds flat you have a bundle of a certain little cutie pie in your arms.

“Jade! Jade you’re home! Can we go shooting now? When will you and Jake take me?”

You pull her into a tight hug, “How about we wait until it gets warmer?” Casey’s face brightens 

John’s face fell into a frown, “How about you take her when she can shoot a gun legally?”

Casey’s face followed John’s, “But Joooohn!”

"No."

"Joooohn!" you joined in with Casey.

"I said no!"

"Joooohn!" Dave joined in too!

"What’s wrong with you guys? I said no and I mean it!"

"Joooohn!" all three of you whined. You share a grin with Casey.

You see John’s shoulder drop dramatically when he heaves an exaggerated sigh. John has always been like that. When you and Jake were adopted by Dad, John and Jane were there to brighten your moods. Your grandparents died suddenly after your parents rock climbing accident that claimed their lives and the foster care system threatened to split you and Jake up. Too say the least it was very stressful for the sixteen year old Jake to take care of the six year old me. Then suddenly Dad showed up and offered to foster the both of us and when we arrived at the house we were greeted with two cakes thrown at both of our faces and two mischievous grinning faces retreating to the kitchen. At the time, John was only four and had been under Dad’s care for three years already. You later found out that Dad was distant relative of Johns but he was so far out removed that he could technically consider him stranger! But he still took in the little baby when he saw his big blue eyes not unlike his own. Since he was the closest to your age, you hung out with him the most at first. He was constantly showing you his latest magic tricks or playing his new pranks one you or getting you to help him play a prank on someone else. He always managed to make you smile even when…

"Hello? Anyone in there? Earth to Jade, Earth to Jade, come in Jade," John called and snapped in front of your face. Silly you! You’re going to have to do something about dozing off while you’re still standing.

"Sorry! I guess I’m still sleepy from my travels. Oh! That reminds me! It’s adventure time!" Casey and John both grin and lead Dave to the couch.

"What’s adventure time? Besides an awesome cartoon, since I don’t think that’s what we’re talking about here." Dave asks.

"It’s when Jade tells her tales of her adventures! Usually Jake is here too," Casey informs him.

You get started on your story of the village you stayed in when the front door flew open and angry footsteps approached the living room. In came a man with fury highlighting his body language and the way he holds himself. Even though his shades hide his eyes you’re pretty sure that he’s not looking at anyone besides Dave.

Out from behind the enraged man a nervous man said softly, “Calm down, good fellow. At least he’s alive and well.” Jake turns to the couch full of people and smiles weakly as he puts a timid hand on Dirks shoulder. “Good day to you, dear siblings of mine and Strider. Sorry for our rather…uh…sudden entrance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe I know I just love cliffhangers right? By the way, spell check wants to change MysticalMondfeesFanfic to Mystic alMond fees Fanfic. Hahaha


	9. Dirk: Lose your cool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, won't you be happy to hear that I have writers block and can literally not think of anything except for a place I want to end up for the next plot chapter. Suggestions would be nice. I will listen. Please. Anyway, here, have another chapter. Warning that the timeline has been rewinded to the morning of the current day in the story instead of it being in the afternoon. But you're homestucks so it shouldn't matter.
> 
> Also the dream in this chapter is based on a really cool comic of Bro's parenting skills that I saw on Tumblr. Unfortunately I couldn't find the original creator and I can't give proper credit to them. But whoever you are, I love you a lot. You're comic tickled me pick.

You are Dirk Strider, most commonly known as Bro, and you like to think that you are normally level headed and have great control over your emotions. However, right now you’re standing over the remains of a plate that you threw across the room in a fit of rage all the while contemplating killing the next living thing you see. If it is your little brother then all the better.

You are angry. You are worried. You feel guilty. You feel lonely. You don’t like how this is going.  
When he first left, to be honest, you didn’t actually care because you knew that he can take care of himself and he needed a little time to cool off. Hell you needed time to cool off.

Then it started to snow.

You gave him till morning to come home then you’d start looking for him.

He didn’t come back and there was at least five feet of snow out there if not more.

That’s when you began to worry.

You went trudging through the snow to look for him even though you knew it was rash. How the hell were you supposed to look for him effectively when you can’t be searching for more than an hour because you lose the feeling in your hands? You’re not. That’s the problem. You couldn’t find him and searching further would have been in vain.

So you were forced to wait. And feeling useless is painful.

You go grab the broom and sweep up your mess. But not before punching the wall where the plate hit. After you’re done you go to the bathroom to pull out the first aid kit to bandage your fucked up hand. You find that you are quite skilled at the trade thanks to all your practice on yourself and Dave. You snort at the thought.

You wonder down the plain hall and into the little man's room. Of course you’re not supposed to be in there but you’ve never given a shit.

Dave’s room is a masterpiece. Cords are strewn everywhere and his well kept turn tables haven’t been moved since you gave them to him. Damn it, you still remember how fucking happy he was and his look of pure bliss when he mixed with it.  


You flop down on Dave’s bed like he was sleeping in it and it was your duty to wake him up ten minutes before his alarm so you two had some extra time before going to school. That and to piss him off.

You lay there drifting in and out of a light sleep while relishing in the memories from your past.

///

"Bro! Bro! Bro! Look!" Little Davey calls to you from across the playground. He’s running over to you with his kiddy camera in hand. Of course he trips over something, like usual, and starts to cry. The damn kid always hurts himself when he gets too excited, you’ll have to think of something to prevent that. Any ways you cover the distance to him in a few quick, long strides. He sits up, trying to be strong like you told him, but when he sees the blood on his hands he cries harder and you hope he doesn’t see that his camera is broken. You’ll have to replace that as soon as possible. You pick him up as you slide the broken camera in your back pocket.

"Hey lil’ man, it’s okay. You’re going to be fine," you shush him. He doesn’t stop crying, though. "Let’s get you home and cleaned up. It’s only a flesh wound, the pain will go away." Damn this kid fucking cries a lot. "Come on, lets chase the pain away with some fun, you want to do that?" You don’t wait for a response as you take little Davey by the arm pits and through him up in the air as high as you can. The kid is getting bigger and it’s getting harder to do this. As the little man flies up the tears stop and he smiles as he comes back down. When you catch him, you spin him around like you always have down. He laughs and you grin because you love it when your little brother is happy.

"I can’t believe that still works," you mumble out loud.

Dave smiles and tells you, “Because I gonna be a daredevil like you!” He clings onto you as you carry him back home. You used to tell him that when he was little and now you’re flattered that he really wants to be like you. You hug him a little tighter and the two of you head to your shitty apartment.

///

You are awaken from your restless slumber by the sound of someone toying with the front door. Your hopes soar for a grand total of two seconds before they plummet to their deaths. It’s not Dave. Dave shuts the door with more force than required where as this guy shuts the door like a normal little shit.

You rollover on the lil man’s bed to face the door, listening to the footsteps entering the hall.

You rule out all possibilities of the person’s identity except for one when you hear the artful fall of a shit ton of smuppets on the victim without a single yelp or any stumbling from an unaware intruder.

After a minute without any confirmation of another loving soul, a familiar voice calls out to the seemingly empty apartment.

"Dirk? Dave? Are there any Striders in here?"

You don’t answer, however, like a total dick. Instead you roll on the bed to stare up at the ceiling. The slight squeak of the bed caused by your movement alerts the man that he was, in fact, not alone in this living space. The footsteps travel to the main bedroom and then approach the bathroom. After concluding your presence wasn’t in either of those locations, he wondered over to your bro’s room. The door slowly creaks open and a face with big green eyes and a toothy grin pops out from behind it.

"What’s the matter, champ? I wasn’t greeted by being pinned against the wall this time." Jake opens the door all the way and walks over the bed after tripping over one of the many cords on the floor. "Are you aware that I was gone for a fairly long amount of time?"

After a minute or two of silence, Jake sighs and sit on the edge off the bed. He leans over you and brushes the hair out of your face. He gives you a smile and takes off your anime shades.

"Why are you so glum?" His deep green eyes stare into your own unique orange ones. You have to say that Jake has learned a lot about your habits over the ten years that you dated the guy plus the four it took you to woo him.

Jake is still leaning over you; searching your face for any clues to why you did automatically attach to his hip when he entered the house.

You give him a small smile, “Welcome home, babe.”

Jake chuckles and he surprises you with a quick kiss on your lips followed by a gentle smile.

And then he hits you with the question.

"Where in the blazes is Dave, any way? This isn’t Strider weather."

You sigh and push Jake off you as you sit up next to him.

"Something is obviously up, so would you kindly bring me up to par?"

Yeah you don’t really have a choice with this conversation.

"Dave is gone," you whisper as you stand up and make your way to the door.

Concern consumes Jake’s face and he jumps up to grab your wrist. “Whoa, wait a moment there fella.” He pulls you back to the bed and sits you down again. “A bit of an explanation and a tad bit more detail would be well appreciated.”

You let out a loud, over exaggerated sigh even though you knew this was coming. “He is gone. He left. He is not here anymore. He skedaddle right on outta here.”

Jake gives you an agitated eye roll and punches your shoulder. “Dirk, what *happened*?”

You rub the bridge of your noise, “We had a silly lil argument about puppets. So I bombarded him with my lil babies and he didn’t like dat much. Then he went and switched all the labels and boxes on my work table. It went back and forth like that, nothing too serious at first but then it went down hill. The last straw for Dave was when I initiated a strife in his room. And I kind of knocked his collection of dead things, and they kind of broke, and he kind of ran out without a word or second thought.” You flop back on the bed.

Jake gives you a questioning look, “So why are you moping on his bed?”

"Because that was two fucking weeks ago and that freak snow storm came the first night he was out. And he only had his shitty jacket with him. No phone, no money, no nothing. I couldn’t find him by searching for him out side and I called around to all the places he could have gone to and had no luck. At all." You pause from your rant. You feel tears pushing to be free but to hell with that. Fuck if you’re going to weep like a baby with a full diaper, because that shit’s not going to do a damn thing to help find Dave. Jake lays down and pulls you into a hug. The smaller man rubs circles on your back and whispers in you ear, "Dave is a feisty fellow and can take care of himself, I’m sure he’s safe. He’s well educated in the art of Strider, thanks to you."

You give him a weak smile, “Yeah, I have just had this really bad feeling the night he left.”

Jake sweetly kisses your ear and snuggles into you, rubbing his face on your neck until he’s comfortable. You wrap your arms around the smaller man and pull him in closer to you. You bury your nose in his hair and inhale his scent. Before long, the two of you doze off, tangled in each others arms.

///

You briefly wake up to acknowledge that the phone is ringing. You, however, acknowledge that Jake is peacefully sleeping on your chest, so you go back to slumber.

///

You wake up to Jake stirring in his sleep. Jake pushes on your chest and gives you a tired grin. You return the smile and give him a good morning (or afternoon or whatever) kiss. He continues to lay on your chest as you share a series of soft kisses for a few minutes. Then he places a final kiss on the tip of your nose before he gets up and moves for the door. God you can’t believe how much you love this man. You sit up, content for the first time since Dave disappeared.

You're boyfriend stops before he opens the door, “I’m going to make us some food,” he continued before you could say anything, “if I can find anything edible in the fridge.”

You stand up, pause for a moment, before you figure that you should take the smuppets out of Dave’s dark room. You don’t want to start up the fighting again if he comes back. When he comes back.

"Dirk! Dirk! Come here, now!"

Your out of Dave’s room and next to Jake in seconds. He’s standing next to the answering machine and he presses a button. Dave’s voice comes on, reassuring that he’s alive and well. You look at the number on the machine and grab the phone.

"What are you doing?" Jake asks.

"I’m calling Roxy to have her track where the call came from."

Your boyfriend grabs the phone from you and hangs it up.

"What the hell, Jake?"

"Dag nab it, Dirk, would you please look at the number again? This time with your eyes open."

You do what he asks but not before giving him a look. Sure it looked a little familiar…but…wait one fucking second, “This is your home phone!” You look at Jake skeptically.

"I say Dirk, you can be bit slow sometimes."

"Why the hell is he at your house?"

"Smite me if I know. I don’t think he’s on visiting terms with Jade. And he knew that Jade and I went on a trip and weren’t coming back until the cows come home."

You don’t know what to think or say at first, but then you subconscious takes the lead and fills you with the anger from earlier. Your words leak out from your lips like venom.

"I guess we’ll just have to ask him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh darn it, homophones are going to be the death of me. I corrected "here" and "hear," "were" and "we're," and the whole shebang constantly. Forgive me for the mistake, really I know how to grammar trust me.


	10. Reader: Have your daily dose of disappointment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I totally forgot to post this chapter....whoosie doodles. Anyway, I'm totes sorry guys so just have some fun with it okie dokie?

Storyline: Go back in time  
wat  
Wait, what?  
What about the awesome Strider strife that’s bound to happen? You thought that was this chapter.

Author: Explain yourself

Hahahaha, yeah. I’m currently procrastinating not only my homework but also the next plot chapter. Soooo, instead you get a fluffy intermission. Yay. Yay for you. Yay for me. Yay for writer’s block.

Dave: Be bombarded

You are Dave Strider and your current thoughts can be summed up in two words: oh shit.

The tree that you’re perched in allows for a better view and a temporary hiding spot from those devils.

Just a minute ago you ran out of ammo and was forced to relocate your hideout. All would have been well but your enemies decided to team up against you and surprise you with a ferocious ambush. You lasted as long as you could but they had the upper hand and used it to drive you up a tree.

Now you are waiting to spot any movement in this frozen, unforgiving hell. You see a bush by the front door of the house rustle. There’s one. You continue to search the yard for a sign for the other offender all the while keeping track of the known one.

"John I found him! He’s in the tree!" you jump slightly at the high pitched voice that calls from behind you. Shit your hideout was uncovered. You immediately jump out of the tree, just in time too because you hear three shots hit where you just were. You hit the ground rolling and you quickly start running for cover. You barely make it to an abandoned fort before you got hit.

Oh thank the holy lord someone left a pile of snowballs in here. You spy out the peephole and see Casey stationed behind the tree. Shit, you haven’t seen Egderp since the bushes. And the crunch of snow behind you chides you for your carelessness. You flip around, already arming yourself with a convenient snowball. Fuck, shit, damnit it’s another blasted prank. These asscrack snowballs weren’t packed tightly and the ball you grab just crumbled in your hand. Fuck this shit. Suddenly you are faced with a face full of cold white snow and another two shots follow for good measure.

The large, wild Egbert has made his appearance, finally, with a huge grin that turns to laughter when he realizes his success.

"You fell for it! I can’t believe you fell for Code F!"

You wipe your face off with the gloves John lent you. “Congrats, Mister Ass, how does your victory taste? Like shit?” you grumble at him. 

Damnit, you sure as hell weren’t expecting this shit when you told Casey that you’d play outside with her. How were you supposed to know that when John said that he was going to see to a few things that he was going to motherfucking build a huge ass battle ground outside complete with traps and pranks? You should have known but its not your fault that you didn’t think of that.

Egbert looks up at something behind you and before you can react a fist full of snow is shoved down the back of your jacket.

"SHIT!" You yelp, automatically shoving your mittened hands down your jacket in a pathetic attempt to save yourself.

Needless to say you failed miserably.

You have a feeling that John would have chided you for yelling obscenities if he and the little Egderps

weren’t laughing their fucking asses off. Oh hell no. You’re not going to take that sitting down. Or standing up. Or whatever, that’s just a really silly phrase.

You pluck the tinny dork off her feet and she squeals. You plop her down in the snow bank and grab her ankles. Her punishment from hell itself is to be dragged around in the snow until she’s soaked.

Hey don’t blame the enforcer.

Casey can’t do a damn thing to stop you from dragging her behind you like a sled so she does the next best thing.

"John! Help! Help me!"

John chuckles, “Don’t worry, Cas, I’ll save you from the big meanie!”

Oh god help you now. One hundred and fifty pounds of dork is plowing into you. The breath is knocked out of you and you fall backwards.

Fuck him and his high school wrestling.

He pins you down easily and unfortunately for you that means that you are almost completely buried in snow. You’re probably supposed to think something corny right now like, “Even in the snow I’m not cold because John’s body heat warms me to the core,” or some shit but the truth is that you’re cold as balls and the both of you are wearing winter jackets. The whole point of winter jackets are to keep your body heat in.

John is grinning like he won a goddamn lottery, “I totally got you!”

This kid is going to be the death of you.

You reply with a smirk and say, “Yep, I am yours. My body is ready.”

John turns a lovely shade of red but still he replies “Oh Mister Strider, oh. You know how to make a lady swoon.” He puts the back of his hand against his forehead, effectively freeing the top half of your body as he does so. You take this opportunity to sit up and reverse your positions.

John fucking squeals as he hits the snow.

"What was that, Egbert? Were you questioning how I treat a lady?"

Casey decides that this is the perfect time for her to leap onto your back, forcing you to hit your head on the idiot’s underneath you.

You grunt and stand up, disregarding the brutes protests as you dump her off your back. You rub the sore spot on your forehead.

"Damn son, that hurt. What, do you have rocks for brains?" you complain to John.

He just laughs it off and sticks his tongue out at you, “No, you’re just hard headed.”

"Well that was fun and everything but I’m freezing my ass off out here so I’m going in." 

Casey giggles, “Language, dummy!”

John smirks, and damn you didn’t think he could pull it off like he does, “That’s right, Casey, you tell him. That’s my girl,” and they share a bro fist. “You ready to go in?”

Casey grins, “Only if you make hot chocolate!”

"Oh hell yes, first one in gets the big Grumpy cup!" You call as you run through the snow to the house. Casey scrambles to catch up with you and John slowly follows from behind with a soft smile claiming his lips.

This has been a great week and honestly you are looking forward to the next.


	11. John: Intervene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this has taken a lot of time and a lot of effort to get out here. This chapter's not really that great because I can't do plot for the life of me. Especially not through a writer's block. Anyway, there may only be one or two more chapters because I seriously lost my steam with this one.
> 
> (Edit: I forgot to post the chapter before this so this one is now eleven and you should go back and read ten. Don't worry it's just an intermission.)

Everything happened too quickly. Before you knew it Dirk threw a sword at Dave and was suddenly attacking him. The sound of metallic clashes filled the room, and everyone else was too stunned to do anything. You could barely follow the actions unfolding; their movements were all blurs. It was only when they paused to test each other's strength could you see the strain on Dave's face and how 

Dirk was utterly unfazed.

You have to do something.

"Stop," you mutter weakly, not intending for it to actually have an effect.

You were so preoccupied by the battle between your best friend and his brother that you hadn't noticed Casey tugging on your shirt. She looks up at you with worry written in her eyes.

"John, I'm scared, " she whimpers.

You look back up to the scene playing out in front of you. Dirk slams Dave against the wall and the whole house shakes. Dave dodges a quick swipe at his chest and counters with a stab at Dirks knees but he moved before the sword got close. As Dave retreated the older man pushed him farther with a series of confined slashes.

"Stop," you say forcibly. No one takes heed.

Dave breaks free from Dirks advances and makes a swing for his neck. Something happens and Dirk trips and falls on his butt. Dave jumps back, taking a moment to breath before Dirk has a chance to recover.

It's Jakes turn to speak up. "Now, why don't we stop and have ourselves a good..." because Dirk and Dave are back at it again. Stab, slash, jab, dash over and over again. The older man quickly parries a sloppy faint to his side and, then, suddenly, catches his brother off guard with a swipe at his arm. You vaguely register Jades shout of alarm and Casey's recoil behind you because all you can focus on is the bright red slowly dripping down your best friends arm.

Oh hell fucking no.

"I SAID STOP," you yell in a fit of raw emotion. Surprisingly they listen, though you pay much attention to that fact because you are SO FUCKING PISSED RIGHT NOW.

You take a deep breath to keep you from yelling but it does nothing to calm your vivid outrage.

"Now listen here you cocky assholes," your words seep out low and dangerous. You practically snarl at the two fucking fools as you advance on them. Dammit, you have to crane you neck to actually look at their faces. "SIT!" you bark, emphasized when you sharply point to the floor and an audible stomp. Both Striders wordlessly comply.

Good.

Without turning away, you address your brother, "Please get the first aid kit, Jake."

"Righty-ho," he confirms and heads to the bathroom.

"First," you state, trying to control the anger in your words and quite honestly not succeeding, "I cannot comprehend how immature you two are being. Whatever the hell is going on between you two, and I don't care if it's pride, irony, or worry, it ends now." Dave is completely stock still without any emotion running through his features. You also notice that Dirk appears to be nervous judging from all the fidgeting he's doing. "Swords. Now. And any other weapons if you please," you demand. Slowly you acquire three katanas (you have no idea where the third one came from good lord), some throwing knives, and a pocket knife. Jake comes back and starts tending to Dave.

"Hmm, it does't look bad. Should heal up in a jiffy."

You calm down a bit after that, but you're still mad! They're acting like two year olds! Even Casey wouldn't behave like this. You won't let these two get out of hand because hell if this is going to happen again. "You will not bring anymore weapons into this house, are we clear? No more physical fighting, ever. I don't care if this is a Strider thing thing but seriously it's terrifying watching my friends try to kill each other when they're upset." You wait for a response that doesn't come. "Are we clear?" You add forcibly.

You are satisfied when you hear two timid yeses. Honestly if you weren't so damned pissed right now you would find their abnormal behavior funny.

"Now you two are going to stand up and give each other a big, unironic hug and I will hear no butts or complaints or I swear that I'll haul out Colonel Sassacre's Daunting Text of Magical Frivolity and Practical Japery and unleash all of its hilarious antics on you," and it was a threat you were definitely willing to carry out.

Dirk sinkers, "That sounds so lame, Johnny Boy. What are you going to do? Tell me over used jokes 'til I pop? Knock yourself out."

Dave, very seriously might you add, stands up and offers a hand to his brother, "You better listen to him, Bro. You don't know the hell I had to go through because of his prankster's gambit. Of course I had to keep going. I didn't look down and I didn't show it if I was scared. Thankfully I got out before the devil even knew I was there, but that was a terrible time for me."

Dirk just quirks an eyebrow at the country song reference but accepts the offer. Dave pulls the older man straight into his chest and they hug it out for a second.

"Nope, your not done yet," you state before they even have the chance to pull apart. Dirk grins and pulls Dave of the ground with a surprised squawk and continues to subject him to spinning him around like a rag doll.

"Bro, let me down!" Dave yells fruitlessly.

"Nah man, embrace the hug with your dear older brother of whom you love so much."

"I swear I will piss on everything you love."

"Even on Jake?" 

"Even on Jake."

"Pardon me?" Jake interjects while Casey just laughs and Jade makes a face.

"Gross Dave! I thought better of you!"

Dirk plops Dave on the ground and stares at him in the eyes, "Even on yourself?"

It's silent after that. Nobody moves, nobody talks, nobody does anything to disrupt their moment. Their very tender moment sprung by a very awkward confession of affection. Boy, Striders are really weird!

"Soooooooo, now that we're all a big happy family again can we all agree not to let this happen again and end this meaningless quarrel? Because I would rather not find another Davesicle and have to save his scrawny ass again," you break the silence when you feel Dave getting uncomfortable.

Dirks turns so quickly you think his neck should have broke.

"What? What do you mean by that?" you can tell that he's staring into your soul, you can just see it.

Oops, wrong thing to say.

He turns his stare to Dave and his discomfort increased ten fold.

"Uh...Dave slept in the park," you draw Dirks attention from Dave. "I found him in the morning and carried him home."

"It was snowing," he stated simply.

"Yeah, he was buried in snow, wouldn't have found him if I hadn't tripped over him."

Dirk slowly looks back to Dave, who, in return, shifts awkwardly. "You about died."

Dave nods, "Yeah, but I didn't."

"You could have died!" Dirk suddenly grabs his brother's shoulders.

"Yeah, sorry Bro."

"Dave, listen to me lil man, listen real good because you could have died!"

"Yeah I know, I was there for that. Bro, you need to calm down."

Dirk jerks Dave toward him. "You could have DIED."

Yeah he was totally calm.

"Hey there, buddy, why don't we sit down," Jake intervenes. He sits him down on the couch with a protective arm around his shoulders. "Dave, would you care to sit next to your elder brother?"

Dave obliges and you kind of just awkwardly sit on the floor in front of them.

"Casey and I are going to make hot chocolate! So take your time, okay?" Jade says, ushering your little sister into the kitchen.

"So, are we ready for this awkward feelings jam so we can have some hot chocolate?"

A pair of dark green worried with concern turn to you.

A pair of pointed shades hiding red eyes turn to you, slowly, unsurely, seeking help.

Another pair of pointed shades turn towards you, quick and sharp.

Tonight is going to be one hell of a night.

///

The next morning it is decided that Dave will in fact, go back home with Dirk. You are not disappointed at all! Seriously, you're happy that your best friend ever made up with his brother and won't be living with you anymore. You are totally fine knowing that you won't be able to listen to his rants or his raps. You don't think twice about how you won't be able to cook for him anymore. You're completely okay with not being able to watch him entertain Casey around the clock. You're so not bothered that his lack of presence will suddenly make you feel lonely, even though Jake and Jade are both home. Nah, you don't bat an eye at the thought of Dave not constantly provoking you by saying that your taste in movies sucks balls, or that you have teeth that would make a dentist faint, or that he was just checking to see if any rats had nested in your hair yet. You absolutely don't freak out thinking about if he will even want to keep in touch or hang out with you again because he's a cool kid, right? He doesn't need you, does he? Not like you need him. Damn, when did you become so desperate?

And here was Dave, walking down the hall with his bro after everyone said their goodbyes, about to walk right on out of your life after he had become such a big part of it.

Your body reacts before you do. You grab the end of his sleeve and he turns to look at you with a questioning eyebrow perked above those annoying shades. You never got him to take them off...

"Dave..." you say quietly. Suddenly, for reasons unbeknownst of you, your chest felt like it was being pressed but a bulldozer or some shit.

"Yeah, bro? What's on your mind?" Dave says easily, like he doesn't care one bit about leaving. Blah, why are you so upset?

You don't know what to say, but you're under pressure to do say something, so you find yourself blurting out, "When can I see you again?"

Dave smiles, like a real smile, "Just call me whenever you want, sweetcheeks. Whenever you need me, I'll be there. I'll be around."

You beam at your friend, because you're going to hang out with him again, you guys are going to do dorky stuff together and neither of you will be ashamed.

He leaves, and you are left behind with your siblings behind you. And you're not sad at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear this isn't the last chapter even though it sounds like it is. It's not. The chapter lies.
> 
> Anyway, I have made quite a few song references throughout this story, does anyone actually care and wish me to link them or something?


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